The Students of Gai-sensei
by Mnsk
Summary: A Hyuga genius, a boy with no innate talent, and slightly awkward orphan girl who had pictures of her idol Tsunade-sama hung up all over her room. All under one enthusiastic fool of a jonin-sensei. That was how Team Gai had begun.


**Summary: Konoha's Sublime Green Beast passed the very first team he was given. Why? Because he knew any student under him would become strong. And so, Team Two comes together for the very first time to meet their new sensei. **

**ooooo**

Beneath the shade of a tree in training ground two, Tenten sat with her knees drawn up to her chin. She had all of eleven years to her name, and she was going to be a ninja.

Sitting a few steps away was the boy who had graduated in the top of his class; Hyuga Neji. He was as still and silent as a dojo master, with his legs crossed and his palms on his knees. As someone who had been slightly above average in her class, she liked that Hyuga Neji was on her team. He was really strong and all the academy teachers loved him.

Although, it would be nice if he actually said something. He had been the first one there, and it had been an entire five minutes since then in which he hadn't even looked at her once. The breeze that fluttered through the training ground wafted through his long, brown hair. Tenten remembered a certain rumor that had spread through her class, stating that a Hyuga's power came from the length of his hair and that was why Neji was so strong while the heir, a younger girl named Hinata, was 'weak'. She remembered that Neji had not been pleased when their class's Dead Last had come after him with a pair of scissors one day.

On her other side was a boy who was sitting just as still. He had walked to the shady spot where they were meant to meet their sensei, seen her and Neji sitting quietly, and loudly declared that he would sit as quietly as them, as if he was taking it as a challenge. Tenten didn't like that very much. She had hoped that the interesting-looking boy wearing the loose fitting karategi would at least _try_ to liven the mood.

She remembered that his name was Rock Lee, and that he had rather thick eyebrows, and that he had been far below average due to some problems that he was born with. They'd even had to give him a separate test because he wasn't capable of creating a henge. As a relatively smart little girl, Tenten knew that any team with someone as good as Hyuga Neji needed a lower-ranking member to even it out. She didn't really mind; it would be lonely on a team with _two_ geniuses.

And so she amused herself by tapping her feet against the grass, and absentmindedly tugging at the corners of her pink shirt, and looking up at the sky to watch the fluffy clouds above Konohagakure. She hoped that the sensei they were going to meet would come and take away the awkwardness that had lodged itself firmly between the three of them.

"Yosh! Greetings, Champions of Youth!"

As a figure descended very suddenly, Tenten jumped almost a foot into the air, and then scrambled to her feet. Lee jumped almost as high and stood at attention. Hyuga Neji lifted an eyebrow and slowly rose.

She took a good look at the man standing in front of them, and both her own eyebrows went up. He was...green. Very green. _Supremely _green. Tenten thought green was a relatively nice color, but _this _man was very much in love with it. He wore green tights that went from neck to ankle, and a green jonin flak jacket, as if the jonin commanders had looked at him and gone 'hmm, he needs even _more _of that color.'

"My name is Maito Gai, and many call me the Noble Green Beast of Konoha. My first expression of you is that you are all very Youthful students, and under my tutelage you will all become strong and worthy ninja!" He told them, his hands on his hips. Tenten beamed, thinking that this Green person seemed like a very enthusiastic jonin-sensei to learn under.

Lee suddenly had stars in his eyes, and he looked on with complete admiration, as if no one had ever said those words to him before. It was probably true.

(No one had said those words to Tenten either, but that was because not many people paid attention to her.)

Hyuga Neji, on the other hand, was looking at him as if he had stated the obvious. He had his arms crossed over his chest and an impassive expression crafted onto to his face. Tenten had heard once that the Hyuga clan members had special training to appear so emotionless.

"And you three are here so early as well!" Maito Gai-sensei went on, "how Youthful!"

"A Hyuga must always be well prepared," Hyuga Neji told him coolly.

"I would never be late to an important occasion such as this!" Lee yelled out, his hands fisted in front of him in a display of eagerness.

"My uncle woke me up extra early because he says it's not good to be late for things, and I get lost sometimes," Tenten explained happily.

"Well then," he clapped his hands and sat down cross-legged on the grass, motioning for them to follow him, "from this day on, three more in the Springtime of their Youth join the shinobi of Konoha!" He punctuated it by slamming a fist down on his green-tights-clad knee, "but first, I must know who you are. I was advised by my Rival that the best way to learn about you would be to ask each of you to tell me your name, likes, dislikes, and future goal."

"Oh!" Lee exclaimed, "will you be starting, Gai-sensei?"

"Yosh!" He agreed, nodding at the boy, "you already know my name and title. The things I like are curry and training and basking in the Springtime of Youth, the prime of one's life!"

Tenten thought to mention that the 'prime of life' usually referred to one's twenties and he looked like he was reaching his thirties, but her uncle's all-knowing voice in her head informed her that it might be rude, so she kept silent. Beside her, Rock Lee was rapt with attention.

"-and there is nothing I dislike!" He went on, "my goal is to one day beat my Eternal Rival by _three _points!"

Tenten tilted her head to one side. That seemed like a strangely un-ambitious goal for someone as enthusiastic as him. Then again, this 'Eternal Rival' could be the Hokage himself for all she knew.

As soon as he finished, Hyuga Neji simply sighed a little. Tenten was about to begin, but Lee erupted into speech before her.

"My name is Rock Lee," he stated, "the things I like are the spicy foods my mother cooks, and practicing taijutsu katas, and I disliked certain people in my class." Tenten put together that he was referring to the other kids who had made fun of his looks. They had called him centipede-brows. In the world and language of eleven-year-old children, it was a dastardly blow to one's feelings.

"-My goal is to become a great ninja even though I cannot use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu!" He finished strongly. Gai looked like he wanted to hug him, but settled for giving him a wide smile, which the boy happily reciprocated. Tenten thought it was a rather nice goal, although she wasn't sure how achievable it was. Neji merely looked unimpressed.

"That is a wonderful goal, Lee!" their jonin-sensei cried out, "as your jonin-sensei, I will aid you in accomplishing it! And now, you," he turned to Tenten and gave her an encouraging look.

She considered her answer carefully. It seemed that they seemed to be following a pattern of naming foods and hobbies, so she thought to go along with that.

"My name is Tenten," she began, "I like sesame dumplings and reading books and throwing kunai that hit the target every time, and I dislike it when I don't get a high score on my academy tests. My goal is to become a great shinobi like Tsunade-sama!" She tried to sound as enthusiastic and Rock Lee and Maito Gai-sensei, but it was rather hard.

At that, Lee gave her a friendly smile and Gai-sensei nodded in approval at her ambition. Hyuga Neji merely sniffed. The fact that she _mentioned _not getting high scores meant that she did – if even occasionally – _get _low scores, and that was reason enough for the Hyuga prodigy to disapprove. When his sensei's gaze fell on him, he answered almost reluctantly, as if the task was beneath him.

"Hyuga Neji. I like meditating, and I prefer herring soba. I dislike pumpkins, and a certain person. I have no wish to detail my goal," he finished. Tenten seemed a little surprised at how little he had revealed, but she mentally shrugged. Pumpkins were foul, after all. Maybe they could be friends by bonding over their shared dislike of the horror that was those icky orange vegetables.

"Yosh!" Gai declared, "seeing your Youthful personalities has made me more excited to become a jonin-sensei! But there is something that I must do in order to truly make you my protégées," he pulled off his pack and reached into it.

Tenten leaned forward in anticipation. Gai-sensei was going to give them something? Like, specially made weapons, or maybe something really cool looking like the earrings that the Ino-Shika-Cho clans got from their sensei? As an orphan who didn't really have a clan, the prospect was exciting. She was leaning forward so much that she almost tripped when their sensei drew out a length of green, stretchy cloth.

"This," he began, holding up a set of green tights similar to the ones he was wearing, "is my special brand of tights, made specially for use in combat! Walk around in these, and you will feel like training until the sweat pours from your forehead. Not to mention, you will look as handsome and dashing as I!" He held them out to Lee first.

The boy had stars in his eyes again as he looked at what he was being offered, "thank you, Gai-sensei! I will always wear them while training so that I could perhaps reach your level of skill one day!" He exclaimed, eagerly accepting the cloth.

Without further ado, he began to strip. Tenten looked on with wide eyes as he quickly undid the sash of his karetegi and slipped out of the shirt, and turned away pink-cheeked as he stepped out of his pants and started to slip the tights on over his underpants. She focused on the back of Neji's head, since the Hyuga boy was looking away as well.

"They feel amazing!" Lee said happily, "so flexible and mobile, I will be able to do twice as many push-ups while wearing these!" She turned her head back to see that he had donned the tights, and was tying his brand-new hitai-ite around his waist just like Gai-sensei.

Their jonin-sensei wiped tears from his eyes and looked at the boy almost brimming with pride, "if I had known that becoming a jonin-sensei would be so rewarding, I would have applied years earlier," he told them, "Lee, my boy, you are a student after my own heart! I will bring you many, many sets of tights!"

"Gai-sensei!" Lee said, almost jumping in delight, "I will never wear anything else again!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

Tenten watched as the boy rushed into the jonin's open arms. Well, they seemed to be getting along nicely. She turned to Neji, to see that he looked almost horrified. As if having such crazy teammates was ruining his entire life. It was the first emotion he had shown that day. She somewhat sympathized with him, but it wasn't _that _bad. Gai-sensei was a bit…eccentric…but he was still a _jonin, _which meant that he was strong. And Lee was…just as eccentric…but he seemed like a genuine and sincere teammate.

"Now you, Young Tenten," she turned back quickly to see that Lee and Gai-sensei had gotten out of their embrace. Lee was standing nearby running his hands over the stretchy tights he was wearing with awe. Gai-sensei was holding up another pair of green tights. He was looking directly at her.

Ok, maybe it _was _that bad.

"These tights will make you look absolutely Radiant," he began, "and you will feel as light as air while throwing your kunai!" He moved the green material closer to her, and Tenten unconsciously took a step back. Neji was watching with something that might have resembled amusement.

She swallowed, and remembered every ounce of the manners her uncle had tirelessly drilled into her. He'd made extra sure to teach her, because she was an orphan and he hadn't been sure if she came with manners when he had first taken her in.

"No thank you," she squeaked, looking anywhere but the tights, "I like my clothes. They're loose and comfortable, and they're really good for target practice. I can hit one hundred out of a hundred throws in these, really. I wouldn't want to…um…change my technique to work with different clothing." There. It wasn't possible to refuse more politely than that.

Tenten had to look away for a minute to prevent her eyes from being blinded by his smile. Indeed, she wasn't exactly sure why he was smiling. But he was, and it was bright. It had to be a skill to smile like that; he could probably blind enemy ninja during a fight.

"So I have a shurikenjutsu user on my new team!" He exclaimed, "well, it is a pity that I will not be able to pass my specially-made tights on to another. But I suppose you look just as Youthful in your current clothing," he nodded.

Then he turned to Hyuga Neji.

Hyuga Neji glared.

Lee was still occupied with his tights.

"I'm not wearing those," the Hyuga boy said firmly, "not if it was the last piece of clothing in Hi no Kuni. I'd walk around nude," he leaned back as far as he could get from the offered green cloth.

Tenten frowned. Well that wasn't very nice.

Gai seemed thoroughly confused, "but…wouldn't you like to look as handsome and manly as I?" he asked.

"I would not like that, no." Neji confirmed, arms crossed over his chest.

For a few seconds, they simply looked at each other. Maito Gai tried to convey with his gaze that the tights he was holding were truly the best things in the world. Neji glared back, refusing to go anywhere near them. It took a long while until one of them broke, and unfortunately it wasn't Neji, because Tenten thought that would have been interesting.

"Well, some find Youth in their own way," Gai affirmed, placing the set of tights back in his pack, "now we must begin training! We will continue until our stomach rumble from hunger!"

"Yosh, Gai-sensei!" Lee had just finished examining ever aspect of his tights, "I am prepared to spar as 'Youthfully' as you say!"

"Lee, my boy," the jonin wiped another tear from his eye, "you have the true power of Youth within you! I will push you to your very limits!" With that, he turned towards the boy and took a taijutsu stance. Hesitating briefly, he looked over his shoulder at the other two, "I will be with you two shortly to see what you can do," he called. Then he turned back to Lee with one fist raised.

Tenten bit her lip as she watched the fight. It _really _seemed that Gai-sensei wasn't holding back at _all._ She winced when Lee went flying and crashed into a nearby tree. He got up, wiped the dirt of his chin, and continued as if it had only been a minor issue.

"…This is going to take a while, isn't it?" She asked out loud.

"Indeed," she turned in surprise as Hyuga Neji actually answered her. She hadn't expected it. He trained his strange white eyes to her, "so you are a shurikenjutsu user?"

"Um…yes," she squeaked. The rookie of the year was interested in _her _talents?

"Fine, we will spar while we wait. He seems like a fool, but he is a strong one," he muttered, throwing a glace at where the jonin had sent Lee crashing through a bush.

Tenten realized that he wanted to practice before Gai-sensei turned to him, and gave him a warm smile. "Sure," she replied, slipping a kunai out of her pouch. She didn't know how well she would do against a genius, but he was her teammate now, and she had to learn how to deal with him. Besides, it was obvious that Gai-sensei and Lee weren't going to stop until lunchtime. Maybe not even then. She would probably need some help to drag their limp bodies to the nearest barbeque place.

A genius, a boy with no innate talent, and slightly awkward orphan girl who had pictures of her idol Tsunade-sama hung up all over her room. All under one enthusiastic fool of a jonin-sensei. That was how Team Two had begun.

**ooooo**

**This was a product of my fascination with Team Gai, and my interest in trying out a different writing style :D **

**And I needed to write to get over my writer's block for my _far _longer story, The Resilience of Time :P**

**Please leave a review if you liked it (^^)**


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